In searching for components for our Sweet 16 Spro earlier this year, we fell in love with the Ipamema Dulce. This ‘Rainforest Alliance Certified’ natural Bourbon truly lives up to its name as sweet was the first cupping note we all added when trying this as an S.O. espresso. Orange blossoms, honey, orange citrus, raisin, dried cherry and chocolate rounded out our notes. While flavor is why we bought this coffee, its versatility is great. As mentioned, this bean is the base of our Sweet 16 Spro, but now we are offering our Ipanema Dulce straight up as a great S.O. Espresso in the small cup, and as a wonderful drip any time of day. We roast this bean just to the kiss of 2nd crack.
The Farm. We fell in love with, and feature, the natural Bourbon known as Ipanema Dulce. The natural practice with Ipanema occurs when the cherry exceeds its ideal state and the fruits enter the "raisin” state. This is where the maturation follows into the dry hanging fruit, these are then harvested for Natural Dry Preparation. While we buy coffee based on flavor and taste, we also research to learn about the farm and its practices. Here is where Ipanema Coffees was ahead of the pack. They take seriously their responsibilities as a leader in the industry. Besides being Rainforest Alliance certified and receiving this new award, Ipanema Coffees was honored in 2004 by the SCAA for the International Sustainability Award.
Farm Statistics from this world class coffee company include:
• three model farms located in South Minas Gerais – the most traditional coffee growing region in Brazil
• over 5,500 hectares dedicated to coffee
• over 1,200 hectares set aside for biodiversity preservation
• over 1,000,000 seedlings planted annually
• annual production above 120,000 bags
• selective picking, manual and mechanical harvesting
• modern milling infrastructure
• over 80,000 square meters of drying patio space
